Door aligner



Nov. 14, 1967 E. F. LAWRENCE, JR 3,351,973

DOOR AL I GNER Filed Oct. 22, 1965 United States Patent Ofifice 3,351,973 Patented Nov. 14, 1967 3,351,973 DOOR ALIGNER Edwin F. Lawrence, Jr., Rock Falls, 111., assignor to Lawrence Brothers, Inc., Sterling, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,087 6 Claims. (Cl. 16--1) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present application discloses an improvement in door panel aligning means having particular application to hingedly connected door panels in which the upper margins are provided with supporting means sli-dable within a horizon-tally disposed track and in which the lower margins of the panels are free. In such instances, the lower margins or edges of the hingedly connected door panels at the point of abutment have a tendency to become misaligned. The present invention contemplates a bracket arrangement attachable to the bottom portions of abuiting door panels which cooperate to automatically effect align ment of the door panels in that vicinity.

Folding doors generally comprise two or more door panels which are hinged together, one of the panels being hinged or pivoted at a jamb for operation. Where the opening requires four door panels or less, a bottom guide channel is ordinarily not employed, thus leaving the lower edge of the panels free. It has proved desirable to provide means for aligning such free edges; and heretofore, interfitting brackets have been made available for this purpose. However, these later devices have employed cooperating pairs of angled arms which bear upon each other to achieve the door alignment. The arms of brackets of this type are prone to become permanently deflected after prolonged use; and applicant has perceived that such permanent deflection and the concomitant loss of alignment capabilities are at least partially the result of urging one comparatively flexible arm into forced engagement with another such element.

Therefore, an important object of the present invention is to provide an aligner bracket arrangement that is resistant to permanent deformation and that is therefore possessed of a persisting ability to align folding doors with which it has been assembled.

A more general object of the invention is to provide a new and improved aligner bracket for folding doors.

Another object of the invention is to provide an aligner bracket that is easily manufactured and that is strong in use.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the following descriptions.

An aligner bracket in accord with the invention includes a fiat base that is adapted to be fixed in position on one face of a folding door adjacent the lower free corner thereof. A boss member is provided on the base and includes a cylindrical cam surface raised from the plane of the base to extend outwardly from the door face. In addition, a cam finger is arranged to protrude from the base at a position adjacent the boss member and this cam finger is intended to extend horizontally beyond the vertical free edge of the associated door panel. This cam finger is specifically configurated to engage the cam surface of a cooperating aligner bracket with at least initial interference therebetween in order to align the associated door upon progressive engagement of the cooperating cam surfaces and fingers of a pair of coacting, relatively invertedly positioned brackets.

The invention, both as to its construction and its mode of usage, will be better understood by reference to the following disclosure and drawing forming a part thereof wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a folding door installation incorporating aligner brackets constructed in compliance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, top plan view taken in crosssection and showing approach of the confronting free edges of the inner door panels of the installation of FIG. 1, showing in solid outline the entry pattern of the cooperating aligner brackets with approximately one-half inch of actual door misalignment, illustrating in addition initial contact of the cooperating aligner brackets and suggesting in broken lines the approximate entry pattern of doors in substantial alignment;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to the showing of FIG. 2 but illustrating the doors in closed position as aligned by the cooperating brackets;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3, with the door panels broken away to reveal details of the cooperating aligner brackets;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the aligner brackets; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the identical, coacting aligner bracket in relatively inverted position with respect to the bracket in FIG. 5, suggesting the position of these two brackets in their use arrangement.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, specifically to FIG. 1, a door installation indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 is seen to comprise a door opening 12 that is defined by opposite side jambs 14 and 16 and a top jamb 18. The door opening 12 is closed by means of a pair of folding door units 20 and 22, each of these units comprising an outer or jamb panel 24 and an inner panel 26. The outer panels 24 are mounted to the respective jambs 14 and 16 by hinges 28, and each pair of the panels 24 and 26 employs hinges 30 for swingable interconnection. In order to direct the movement of the upper edges of the door units 20 and 22, a guide track 32 is recessed into the top jamb 18, and the upper corners at the confronting edges of the panels 26 are suspended from fittings 34 that are adapted for slid-able movement in the guide track 32. The lowercorners at the confronting edges of the panels 26 carry identically constructed aligner brackets 36 and 38 which are arranged in compliance with the invention, bracket 38 diifering from bracket 36 only by being disposed in relatively inverted position.

Turning to a consideration of FIGS. 5 and 6 for a description of the identically constructed aligner brackets 36 and 38, each of the brackets is seen to comprise a flat base 40, a boss member 42 and a cam finger 44. The flat base is adapted to be fixed in position on one face of a folding door panel and, for that purpose, is specifically fashioned with a pair of horizontally elongated slots 46 and a circular aperture 48, the slots 46 being adapted to pass the shanks of mounting screws in approximately positioning the bracket on the door face while the aperture 48 is intended to pass the shank of a mounting screw used in establishing the ultimate position of the bracket on the face of the door panel. The described attachment of the aligner bracket is suggested in FIGS. 2-4 where round headed wood screws 50 are illustratively employed as the fastening elements.

In compliance with the features of the invention, the boss member 42 is fashioned to provide a cylindrical cam surface 52 which is raised from the plane of the base 40 to extend outwardly from the face of the door to which the aligner bracket is attached. In further compliance with the features of the invention, the boss member 42 has attachment or merger with the base 40 along two lines, specifically the lines 54 and 56. To facilitate the manufacture of the base 40, the boss member 42 and the cam finger 44 from a single piece of sheet material, such as for example sheet metal, the boss member 42 terminates in a generally spherical cap 58 to form the attachment line 56. Additionally, the lines of merger or attachment 54 and 56 are arranged generally at right angles with each other in order to promote strength and rigidity in the boss member 42 and in the adjacent regions of the base 40 and the cam finger 44. In furtherance of the ease of manufacture of the aligner bracket, the boss member 42 is made tubular as is well illustrated in FIG. 6.

The cam finger 44 protrudes from the substantially fiat base 40' at a position adjacent the boss member 42 to extend horizontally beyond the vertical free edge of a door panel to which the aligner bracket has been attached. The latter condition of the cam finger is shown in FIG. 1. Turning to a consideration of FIGS. 2-4, the cam finger 44 of each aligner bracket is configurated to engage the cam surface 52 of the boss member of the cooperating aligner bracket, and this engagement is intended to provide at least initial interference between the boss member and the cam finger whereby to provide an alignment function upon progressive engagement of the cooperating cam surfaces and cam fingers. In the illustrated embodiment, the cam fingers 44 are configurated as substantially flat members that are angled with respect to the associated flat base 40. Specifically, each cam finger 44 is disposed at an angle of 30 relative to the projection of the plane of the associated fiat base 40. The angulation of cam finger 44 relative to the flat base 4% is not particularly critical and may vary as much as without impairing the alignment function.

For purposes of afiording a more complete understanding of the invention, it is advantageous now to provide a functional description of the manner in which the aligner brackets cooperate. Considering FIGS. 1 and 24, the pair of aligner brackets 36 and 38 will be seen mounted in coactable relationship to the confronting lower free corners of the inner panels 26 of the two folding door units and 22. It will also be observed that the bracket 36 is invertedly positioned relative the bracket 38. In this latter position, the cam finger 44 of one bracket is situated to engage the boss member of the other bracket.

Considering FIG. 2 and assuming that the right hand panel 26 as viewed in that figure is aligned generally in the door opening substantially coplanar with the associated outer panel 24, the left hand door panel 26 as viewed in the figure will approach from a partially folded condition until the tip of one cam finger engages the boss member of the cooperating bracket. In compliance with the illustration of FIG. 2, the tip of the cam finger of bracket 38 has engaged the boss member of bracket 36 as the first contact between the brackets. Thereafter, further movement of the left hand panel 26 toward closure of the door opening will urge the aligner brackets closer together, the cam fingers and boss members sliding relative to each other as the initial interference therebetween serves to draw the two inner door panels 26 into ultimately coplanar relationship as is suggested in FIGS. 3 and 4. There, both of the cam fingers and cooperating boss members are in engagement with line contact therebe-tween for holding and preserving the aligned condition of the door units. Although only one pair of the door panels is suggested as executing the door closing movements, both pairs of panels may execute such movements at the same time without altering the general operation of the brackets 36 and 38.

Upon opening of either door unit, the elements of the aligner brackets slide easily relative to each other without impeding the door movement.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown, it should be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto since many modifications may be made; and it is, therefore, contemplated to cover by the present application any and all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. An aligner bracket adapted to coact with an identical, invertedly positioned bracket in aligning the lower free corner of a folding door, said aligner bracket comprising: a flat base adapted to be fixed in position on one face of a folding door; a boss member on said base, including a cam surface curving laterally outward from the plane of said base and then curving toward said plane to extend outwardly from plane of said door face when said base is fixed thereto; and a cam finger protruding from said base at a position adjacent said boss member to extend horizontally beyond the vertically free edge of said door, said finger being configurated to engage the curved cam surface of a cooperating complementary aligner bracket with at least initial interference therebetween whereby to align said door upon progressive engagement of the cooperating cam surfaces and fingers.

2. An aligner bracket according to claim 1 wherein the curved cam surface of said boss member is cylindrical.

3. An aligner bracket according to claim 1 wherein said boss member has attachment with said base along at least two different lines.

4. An aligner bracket according to claim 1 wherein said boss member has attachment with said base along two lines generally at right angles with each other.

5. An aligner bracket according to claim 1 wherein said cam finger is configurated as a substantially flat member disposed at an acute angle with respect to the planar projection of said base.

6. An aligner bracket according to claim 1 wherein said boss member is substantially tubular.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,839,776 6/1958 Nelson MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ALIGNER BRACKET ADAPTED TO COACT WITH AN IDENTICAL, INVERTEDLY POSITIONED BRACKET IN ALIGNING THE LOWER FREE CORNER OF A FOLDING DOOR, SAID ALIGNER BRACKET COMPRISING: A FLAT BASE ADAPTED TO BE FIXED IN POSITION ON ONE FACE OF A FOLDING DOOR; A BOSS MEMBER ON SAID BASE, INCLUDING A CAM SURFACE CURVING LATERALLY OUTWARD FROM THE PLATE OF SAID BASE AND THEN CURVING TOWARD SAID PLANE TO EXTEND OUTWARLDY FROM PLANE OF SAID DOOR FACE WHEN SAID BASE IS FIXED THERETO; AND A CAM FINGER PROTRUDING FROM SAID BASE AT A POSITION ADJACENT SAID BOSS MEMBER TO EXTEND HORIZONTALLY BEYOND THE VERTICALLY FREE EDGE OF SAID DOOR, SAID FINGER BEING CONFIGURATED TO ENGAGE TO CURVED CAM SURFACE OF A COOPERATING COMPLEMENTARY ALIGNER BRACKET WITH AT LEAST INITIAL INTERFERENCE THEREBETWEEN WHEREBY TO ALIGN SAID DOOR UPON PROGRESSIVE ENGAGEMENT OF THE COOPERATING CAM SURFACES AND FINGERS. 